Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowling Association

Monthly Archives: May 2015

South Ramsey were top scorers in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored ladies league on Wednesday 20 May, winning 8 games, 3 of them to single figures. Jean Thackrah was the lone winner for Port Erin. Onchan were affected by sickness and could only field five players, who fought well to win three of their five games, Eileen Thomas winning to single figures as did Debra Cooper for the home side. Ann Gale and Christine McDonald, to single figures, were the two winners for Ballaugh at Castletown, the home side winning 4 games to single figures. Mooragh Park are beginning to look dangerous again, winning seven games against Marown whose two winners were Margaret Scarffe and Lil Smith, while Port St Mary had the edge over Noble‘s winning 6-3 on games. The closest match of the night was at Peel where Sunset won 5-4 on games and by a single chalk. Two of the games could have gone either way with Sue Jones losing out 19-21 to Joan Murphy while Rose Corfield holding off Brenda Williams to win 21-20.

Grown Green Bowls on the Isle of Man has seen resurgence as of late with a lot of development work taking place at all levels of the game. Neil Withers is working tirelessly to make the sport truly accessible from the grass roots up with the new ‘Bowls for All’ project.

The work he has started could see him meet, and potentially exceed, his aspirations of making the game more accessible by providing more coaches, more equipment and providing more sessions where newcomers to sport can try for free in the very near future.

Neil is looking to achieve his aims by sourcing funding to purchase necessary equipment and coaching aids, and subject to meeting the criteria requested this project will be a massive step forward for the sport.

He is also keen that clubs wanting to benefit from the scheme put something back and really open themselves up to people wanting to try the game. To achieve this he has tied it in with existing work in the bowls development plan to launch a charter standard.

Development officer Mark Kneen has adjusted the charter to encompass all the aspirations of the ‘Bowls for All’ scheme and a draft of the proposed three tiered charter will be circulated around clubs soon.

It is envisaged that clubs achieving level 1 Charter Club status will reap the rewards by receiving equipment and support to continually develop their club as a breeding ground for new players. Neil should be commended by his vision, foresight and tireless effort to achieve his goal which will definitely seal a victory for bowls on the Isle of Man.

Marown A are beginning to find top gear in Isle of Man Bank Men’s Division 1 as they move into second spot after a strong week, and begin closing the gap on leaders Onchan A.

They had two home games last week and began by beating Peel 9-1 before following this up with a very impressive 8-2 win over high flying Douglas A to leapfrog them in to second spot.

They are 18 points adrift of the leaders with a game in hand, so if they can win big in that and keep chipping away at the remaining deficit we could be in for a grand stand finish, one thing is for sure though weeks like this where they pick up two more points than their rivals will certainly help.

The leaders had a tougher start to their week with a tricky trip to South Ramsey A in the match of the week. In an extremely close affair Onchan A snatched a 6-4 victory, after drawing on games won, by just two points with 135 to South’s 133.

Onchan will be very pleased to have left their second trip of the week to Ramsey with nine points as they seemingly beat North Ramsey with ease at the Mooragh. That said the match was a lot closer than the score line suggests with North finding themselves on the wrong side of a 21-20 and two 21-19’s.

South’s second match of week got their season back on track as they beat a plucky Finch Hill A 9-1 at home. South are now in fifth place and will be hoping to get some momentum back in their season as they will be aiming for at least third place, although they will be hoping for better.

Port St Mary A had the best week of all though with two 9-1 home wins. They started the week in fine fettle against North Ramsey A and finished the week with another impressive victory over Castletown B.

They are I fourth place and will expect to overtake Douglas as they have a game in hand, they are only four points off Marown so there is no reason why they can’t push all the way for second place.

Ballaugh A also had a great week recording two wins to move out of the bottom two. They had to fight hard to overcome a belligerent Nobles A side 6-4 on Monday before ending their week on a high recording a 7-3 score line against Port Erin A.

Onchan B top Division 2 after a strong 9-1 win over struggling Castletown C. Douglas B are next on equal points with Onchan, but with a game in hand, after they had to scrap it out to finish 7-3 away at Nobles B. North Ramsey B were the biggest movers of the week as they recorded a brilliant 10-0 maximum over Ballaugh B.

Onchan C complete the set in Division 3, with an team from the Park on top in every division. They had a good 7-3 showing at home to Finch Hill B. Both themselves and Peel C now have a gap between them and the chasing pack after the Govags recorded an 8-2 win over their D team.

It was not a good week for Peel Sunset in the C Tarleton Hodgson sponsored league as, after their debacle at Noble’s on Tuesday, they faced a rampant Port St Mary on Friday night. The home side won the first eight games, four to single figures, and at one point Joyce Kelly, in the last game, was 15-2 down before coming through to win 21-18 to give the home side a three figure total. It was also a last game for Connie Pettegrew before she returns to America-we all wish her well for the future.It was a hard fought battle at Marown, where all 9 games went to double figures, the visitors having the advantage 5-4 on games, although it could have been the other way round with Irene Corlett reaching 20 against Gill Aughton and Margaret Scarffe 19 against Roma Ware. South Ramsey had the better of things at Ballaugh, winning 5 games with Elaine Moore doing so to single figures, while Port Erin had a good win in a low-scoring match against Mooragh Park, winning 6 games, three of them to single figures. Noble’s put up a strong performance against Onchan, winning four of their six games to single figures. The game of the match saw Marilyn Ellison edge out Sylvia Kennaugh 21-19.At Douglas the home side won three games, two to single figures by Paula Garrett and Pat Kelly and in the third Lynne Mansley pipped Ann Hollingworth 21-20. In reply Castletown won six games with Kim Foy winning to single figures.

Port St Mary A played their match on Monday 11 May, winning 4-2 on games with Tricia Bull winning to single figures. The two winners for Onchan B were Barbara Kennaugh and Wendy McDowell. Three other matches were played on Thursday 14 May, with Onchan A playing their match on Thursday 21 May..

Chris Holland spoiled the party for Ballaugh, denying them a maximum while at Mooragh Park Mary Kinrade was the fly in the ointment for Port Erin, preventing a full house. Peel Sunset had to give a game away at Villa but managed a draw on games. The games were all close with 15 being the lowest score achieved in play.

Onchan A were top scorers in the Trend sponsored over 60’s league on Tuesday 12 May, dropping just 7 points although the match ended level on games. Their three winners won to single figures while for the B team Eileen Killey came through 21-19 against Flo Kelly while Joyce Gardiner edged out Rita Callan 21-20.With four wins, Ann Gale’s to single figures, Ballaugh had a comfortable win over Castletown whose two winners were Anne Oates and Ann Hollingworth who just had the better of Brenda Bowyer 21-20. Peel Sunset travelled to Port St Mary A where the home team won four games, with all six games going to double figures. The two winners for the visitors were Joyce Kelly and Heather Horsburgh while Cath Parker came closest to adding a third game reaching 18 against Kath Looney. Villa had a successful trip south winning five games against Breagle, Sylvia Maddrell winning her game to deny them a maximum. Kay Primrose- Smith almost gave the home side a second game reaching 19 against Pat Kelly.Douglas were a player short, their only winner, Lynne Mansley doing so to single figures.Mooragh Park came through by 4 points against Pot St Mary B, with both teams winning three games and all games going to single figures while at Noble’s the home side won on games, although Sylvia Shelbourne almost levelled the gams reaching 20 against Pat Dacre.

It turned into a bitterly cold night on Thursday 14 May for the quarter-finals of the Jean Kelly team handicap knockout competition.

At Ballaugh the home team won only three games to Onchan’s six, but with those three games being to single figures, as was Maureen Payne’s for Onchan, they had the advantage on points, 148-142, before the handicaps kicked in giving the visitors a 187-173 win.

It was another close match at Castletown, the home side losing out 4-5 on games to South Ramsey, although Sue Peach did win to single figures. The visitors won 156- 147 without the handicap which stretched their lead by a further 5 points.

The closest match of the night was at Noble’s where the home side won five of the nine games with Rebecca Teare winning to single figures. However Port St Mary won three of their four games to single figures to lead 149-132 which was a bit too close for comfort as Noble’s +15 handicap brought them within 2 points of their visitors.

Douglas struggled on their trip south to Purt le Moirrey, the home side winning 5 games with Chris Price winning to single figures. The visitors wins included one to single figures by Muriel Cain, while Joan Murphy edged out Dot Mylchreest 21-19 and Harley Garrett was taken all the way by Chris Holland before coming through 21-20.The home side were 164-145 and also had the advantage on handicap so ended with a comfortable points win.

The final pitted Brenda Bowyer against Joyce Kelly, proving that even in bowls good things come in small packages ! Brenda, playing in her first final, started with a two on the first end but from that point Joyce was in control although Brenda fought well with the players winning alternate ends in the latter stages. Joyce came through to win 21-13, a fitting result as she was one of the few round the green who had played at Peel at the same time as Gladys.

The presentation was made by Heather Horsburgh, who thanked Nigel Rawlinson for his continued sponsorship of his grandmother’s competition. She also thanked the Peel ladies for their help throughout the afternoon, both round the green and in those who had provided, and sold, the refreshments

There was a disappointing entry of 20 for the ladies’ singles open played at Onchan on Wednesday 13 May. The green was a bit on the heavy side, but it was nice to see the club back on their own green and the weather staying fair.

In the final there was some beautiful bowling. Janet won the first three ends to lead 10-6. Chris took five of the next seven ends, with Janet keeping her down to singles, to close to 11-13, but could only manage one more two before Janet ran out the winner 21-13.

The presentation was made by club president Lynda Clarke who congratulated all the ladies on the standard of bowls during the competition, before thanking all the Onchan ladies who had helped in any way during the afternoon.

The match between Noble’s and Peel Sunset, postponed from Friday 8 May due to the weather conditions, was played on Tuesday 12 May. Peel were left wondering whether having four out of their nine players reaching a score of 4 was some sort of a record! The visitors did take three games with Joyce Kelly winning to single figures.